Cardinals coach Whisenhunt scales back players' workload

by Kent Somers - Dec. 29, 2009 07:11 PMThe Arizona Republic

The Cardinals haven't avoided all the symptoms of the infamous hangover that supposedly afflicts all Super Bowl losers.

Unlike eight of the previous 10 losing teams, the Cardinals are in the playoffs. But over the past few weeks, coach Ken Whisenhunt has been conscious of the fact that 2009 has been a very long year for his players and assistant coaches.

He's not complaining, but advancing to the Super Bowl meant five weeks of extra work. Couple that with preparing for free agency, the draft, off-season practices, training camp and having an off week in the first month of the season, and it's no wonder the Cardinals are dragging their tail feathers.

"I know the last couple weeks it's been hard," Whisenhunt said. "You just feel worn out, because it just seems like you didn't get that time in the off-season to recover. Everything was just right on top of you. You can say, 'Well, that's five weeks.' But that's a pretty significant period."

The Cardinals have played 12 games since their off week, and that grind has contributed to Whisenhunt's decision to scale back the players' workload.

He always has believed in a sane training-camp regimen with a minimal amount of hitting. Whisenhunt believes that pays dividends throughout the season.

But over the past two months, Whisenhunt has taken additional steps to keep the players fresh. The Cardinals have enjoyed "Victory Mondays" - a day off after a win - more often this season.

Last week, Whisenhunt gave his players Christmas Day off, meaning they had three days off the week of the game, almost unheard of in the NFL.

"It was good for me, too," Whisenhunt said, smiling. "This year, we've had more non-padded practices. Everybody talks about having a soft (training) camp, but that was the purpose, protecting the team knowing the physical toll it (the season) was going to take. It's worked to our advantage."

Whisenhunt couldn't follow this plan with last year's team. Those Cardinals were immature, given to wild swings of mood and performance. Over the holidays last year, Whisenhunt put his team through padded practices because he felt the players had relaxed in their preparation.

"This is the time of year when that stuff starts to slip," he said, "and we had our issues this year and worked through it. I think our team understands now what it has to do to prepare."

A pleasant development

After Sunday's victory over the Rams, Whisenhunt expressed disappointment over how his team had protected quarterback Kurt Warner. After watching a replay of the game, however, he said tackles Levi Brown and Jeremy Bridges played better than he initially thought.

"Obviously, we had one or two plays on the edge with Jeremy," Whisenhunt said. "That's going to happen in a game. Any time you spread out like we do and expose your edge, you're going to have to be aware those things can happen.

"It's a risk-reward thing, because when you do that, teams have a very difficult time stopping it."

Playoff possibilities

Despite the Vikings' loss to the Bears on Monday night, the Cardinals still are likely to play the Packers in the first round of the playoffs. The only way that wouldn't happen is if the Cardinals can move up from the fourth seed to second or third.

To get a No. 2 seed, the Cardinals need to beat the Packers on Sunday in the regular-season finale, Dallas has to beat Philadelphia, and the Giants must defeat the Vikings.

If the Cardinals, Giants and Eagles win, the Cardinals would be the third seed and host the Cowboys in the first round.

The Giants (8-7) play at the Vikings (11-4) on Sunday at 11 a.m. The Eagles (11-4) play at Dallas (10-5) at 2:15 p.m., and the Cardinals (10-5) play host to the Packers (10-5) at 2:15 p.m.